Commnicating with an audience of low literacy levels

[Ned Bedinger]

Neil Ternowetsky wrote:
> I am creating an information booklet to inform and educate people about a 
> fairly abstract topic. Many of the readers have low literacy skills and 
> minimal experience with the English language. Are there were any strategies 
> that I could use to communicate an audience like this, aside from using 
> descriptive pictures and simple language?
>   

The cut-off for written documentation is the sixth grade reading level. 
If your readers can't pass that wicket, you should consider alternate 
information formats. Pictures can be very communicative--consider a 
comicbook format.

BTW, I'm not being snide about this. Graphical instructional material, 
presented as a comicbook, has done wonders to promote and disseminate 
information where the literacy level is an impediment, in developing 
areas of the world, for example. We've had discussions about it in years 
past on this list, perhaps googling for comic manual techwr-l would turn 
something up.


HTH,

Ned Bedinger
doc at edwordsmith.com